NEW ORLEANS — Dillan Burton, her six-year-old sister and mom were in their car driving Sunday night in Algiers - one day after celebrating a happy Christmas with family - when the unthinkable happened.
A vehicle nearby began unloading shots into the family’s car and all Maquisha Burton could think about was getting away and protecting her two young children.
“All I could think of was getting away,” she said Tuesday while holding her six-year-old daughter Kennedi in her lap. “I was terrified. I knew my kids were in the car. I had to get away. I just drove and drove and I didn’t want to wreck because I didn’t know if they were behind me.”
Maquisha eventually did stop the car near Milton Street in Gretna. She and her youngest of two got out of the car and saw 7-year-old Dillan wounded on the car’s back seat.
A call to police for help led to a drive to the hospital, but it was too late. Dillan died at the hospital and police are now desperately looking for clues to those responsible.
The family who was only apart when the children were in school, were now irreparably torn apart.
Dillan loved to read and loved school. She was part of a dance group and her mother had just put down the money for the two girls to march during Mardi Gras.
Dillan was shy, she said, but despite that she said people were attracted to her like a magnet. “Everyone gravitates to her.”
Dillan was a second-grader at Success Prep at Thurgood Marshall in New Orleans. Her mother said she absolutely loved school and dove right in to her homework on the ride home.
“My baby could read,” said Maquisha, smiling as she remembered. “You could put anything in front of her and she would read it.”
Maquisha said the only thing Dillan loved more than school and dancing was her sister. She said Dillan was full of love and probably would have even have probably taken a shine to whoever is responsible for the heinous act.
“You took a child, someone who probably would have loved you if she met you.”
Maquisha was soft spoken but adamant about the strength of her child and what she could have become and she is now uncertain as to what she’ll do next.
“I don’t think I can drive any more. I don’t see how I can go on with my life when she was such a big factor in my life. She’s the only thing I did right - her and her sister.”
A GoFundMe has been established to help Dillan Burton's family cover burial costs. Those who wish to donate may do so at https://bit.ly/3HepuCO